


Hotel Gakuen

by haruka



Category: Fruits Basket, Fushigi Yuugi, Hunter X Hunter, Rurouni Kenshin, Sailormoon - Fandom, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Twin Signal - Fandom, Yuu Yuu Hakushou - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crossover, Fruits Basket - Freeform, Fushigi Yuugi - Freeform, Hunter x Hunter - Freeform, M/M, Rurouni Kenshin - Freeform, Sailormoon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Freeform, Twin Signal, Yuu Yuu Hakushou
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-04
Updated: 2013-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-07 11:24:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haruka/pseuds/haruka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An older AU crossover fic of mine recently picked up again in which various anime family groupings all live in a privately-owned hotel which is also a school for kids with ‘special properties.’  Timelines are ignored, relationships are mixed and matched, and if anything is canon, it’s probably an accident.  Note:  ‘Gakuen’ means ‘school’ in Japanese.  Expect more fandoms to be represented as it goes along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hotel Gakuen (Crossover)

Part 1

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Zoisite peeked into the bedroom and tried not to smile. It was beautiful. The entire suite was beautiful, but there seemed to be no end of comfort in what he had seen so far of this place. As a hotel, it would be fantastic.

As a school, half the enjoyment was already taken away.

“Hey, how come you’re claiming that room?” came Nephrite’s annoying demand from behind him. Zoisite turned with deliberate slowness and leaned against the doorframe.

“Because it’s not just for me, genius. It’s Kunzite-sama’s room, too.” He smiled sweetly. “Of course, if you’d like to go argue with HIM about it ….”

Nephrite scowled and walked toward one of the other bedrooms, muttering something about how Zoisite always got his way.

The youngest of the Shitennou frowned prettily. That wasn’t entirely true. If it WERE true, they wouldn’t be here and he wouldn’t be in this fix.

“So what is our room like, little one?”

Zoisite started, having been too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice Kunzite’s approach. He smiled warmly at the High King of the Shitennou, his commander and beloved.

“Take a look!” Zoisite moved aside to let Kunzite walk into the bedroom. He nodded his approval.

“The accommodations are adequate. We should be very comfortable here.”

“I’d be happy anywhere with you,” Zoisite said and leapt onto the bed. “Especially _here_.”

Kunzite smiled. No one but Zoisite could make him smile like that. “Ah, but then you shouldn’t have complained so much about having to come here.”

The smaller King pouted. “That’s not fair. It’s not like you’ll be attending classes with me, so I see no benefit in THAT aspect of it.”

“You missed out on a normal school experience in the Dark Kingdom. I won’t let that continue now that we’re free.”

“This place isn’t exactly normal,” Zoisite pointed out. “How many schools board entire families? And provide room service?”

“A lot of money and resources were pooled into this school from various sources,” Kunzite explained. “All of the people here have special properties of some kind – in most cases, attending a normal school would be disastrous for them.” He gave Zoisite a significant look. “Or for their classmates.”

Zoisite mock-gasped and put a hand to his chest. “Kunzite-sama, I’m shocked! Are you suggesting that I would do someone bodily harm?”

Kunzite snorted. “I hope you’re not suggesting that you _wouldn’t_.” He went over and sat on the bed, tilting Zoisite’s chin up so he’d face him. “But you will NOT, Zoisite. That part of our lives is over, we are no longer Dark Kingdom minions and we will not just go around killing people who get on our nerves, understand?”

Zoisite sighed, “As you wish.”

“That is not just a request, it is an order.” Kunzite brought Zoisite’s face up to his own and kissed him warmly. “Understand?”

“Yes,” Zoisite answered, wrapping his arms around Kunzite’s neck to kiss him again.

A throat cleared nearby. “Before you two really get going, I just wanted to let you know that all the luggage is here now and Nephrite and I are thinking about getting something to eat before we start exploring.”

“Go ahead,” Kunzite said, stroking Zoisite’s cheek softly. “I have other hungers to satisfy first.”

Zoisite giggled and without barely a glance waved a hand toward the doorway. The door magically slammed in Jadeite’s face.

“Are they at it again?” Nephrite asked dryly as he strolled over to the other King.

“Just as they’ve been ever since we escaped? Oh, yeah.” Jadeite smiled toward the door. “And why not? For the first time in several rebirths, we might all actually survive for a change. May as well enjoy that to the fullest.” He clapped Nephrite on the shoulder. “So let’s go celebrate by checking out the quality of food this place offers.”

“Don’t forget drink,” Nephrite added. “I plan to make frequent use of the bar once Zoisite starts classes and we have to put up with his hourly tantrums.”

\--

Honjou Kamatari yawned behind his hand and kicked his feet back and forth as he sat on the sofa, watching the fight. He had seen it all before.

“What do you mean ‘calm down’?! If it weren’t for you being so damn calm all the time, the kid might actually LISTEN once in a while instead of doing anything he pleases the moment our backs are turned!”

“Shishou, shouting at him won’t help anything, that it will not.”

“It sure can’t HURT anything!” The taller of the two men – indeed, he looked positively gigantic next to the tiny redhead he was arguing with – turned toward Kamatari and waved a muscular arm at him. “LOOK at him! He’s not even paying attention!”

“You weren’t speaking to me, you were fighting with each other,” Kamatari said reasonably. He studied his nails and decided he needed a manicure. A shadow fell across him and he raised wide maroon eyes to look up into the stern visage of Hiko Seijuurou as he loomed over him.

“NOW I am speaking to you. And I am saying that you will not smart-mouth your teachers again, NOR will you threaten their lives when they dare to attempt to discipline you for it!”

Kamatari gave him a wink. “So I should just by-pass the threats and go straight to the killing. Gotcha.”

“Oroooo.” The little redhaired samurai, Kenshin, paled slightly at that. Whether it was the statement itself or that he dared to say it to an angry Hiko, Kamatari wasn’t sure. Kenshin had once been the legendary Hitokiri Battousai, but he gave up killing to protect people with his sword. It was Hiko Seijuurou who trained him in the Hiten Mitsuryugi Ryu fighting technique and pretty much raised him after he was orphaned. They now shared a bed and the task of taking care of Kamatari, but Kenshin still deferred to his Shishou in most matters. However, he seemed determine to protect Kamatari from the worst of Hiko’s wrath, which was fine with the teenager.

Hiko began reaching for Kamatari, but stopped himself. “Tell me again why we were cursed with this child?” he growled at Kenshin.

“Someone had to take him after the Juppongatana was defeated, Shishou. The government wanted to make him a spy, but I thought he deserved a chance to be a normal teenager. And you agreed, that you did.”

“I _didn’t_ agree!” Hiko snapped. “YOU decided and then brought the kid home with you!”

“Hey, no problem, I can go –“ Kamatari said lightly and stood up. Hiko shoved him back down.

“You’re not going anywhere!” he told him. “My stupid pupil may have done me a great disservice by bringing you into our lives without my consent, but now that you are our responsibility you WILL do as you are told, do you understand me?!”

“Absolutely,” Kamatari piped up.

“You say that every time and then do what you want, anyway!” Hiko exploded. He ran a hand over his handsome face and tried to regain his composure before glaring at the boy once more. “You will apologize to your teacher and you are not leaving this suite except for classes for the next week!”

“Okay,” replied the teenager.

Hiko frowned. That was too easy. However, Kenshin was visibly relieved.

“Now that that is settled perhaps we can see about having something to eat? I will prepare –“

“No,” Hiko said quickly. “I can’t take your cooking right now. We’ll get something in the restaurant.”

“Fine with me.” Kamatari stood up again, and once more Hiko pushed him back down.

“Not you,” he said firmly. “I said you were to stay in here for a week and I meant it. You can order from room service or make something yourself. Come on, Kenshin.” He steered the smaller man toward the door. Kenshin glanced over his shoulder toward Kamatari with an apprehensive look before they left.

Ah well, Kamatari thought. Kenshin was no fool – he knew the likelihood of Kamatari staying in the suite for an entire week was dubious at best.

In fact, the chances of he staying in the suite while the two of them were gone were nil. Kamatari jumped up and went to the mirror to check himself out. His reflection showed what might have been a slender, beautiful girl, easily underestimated in battle. Those who had faced his Great Scythe in the past had little time to regret their mistake.

He sighed. Unfortunately, his weapon was locked up. Neither Hiko nor Kenshin would allow him to carry it with him. Granted, it was rather large -- bigger than Kamatari himself – and the wicked scythe-blade and iron ball and chain at the opposite end might have made it tough to store in class. It was still weird getting used to being without it.

Not to mention being without his companions from the Juppongatana. Especially one in particular.

Well, he thought, no point in dwelling right now. If he wanted to have some free time without Hiko breathing down his neck and without going stir-crazy from confinement, he decided he’d better go hunt some action.

\--

Zoisite came out of his suite and stretched. Some fun with Kunzite, a refreshing shower, and he felt much better. Now it was time to explore this lovely dump.

A sound nearby made him turn his head and he saw a very cute girl in a kimono leaving the room next door. She had wine-coloured hair in a shoulder-length flip style that framed her sweet face in a flattering way. She spotted him at the same moment and he saw her give him the once-over.

“You’re new,” she said, “what’s your name?”

“Zoisite,” he replied. “And yours?”

“Honjou Kamatari.” She walked over, scrutinizing him in a measuring way. “You’re very pretty.”

She thinks I’m a girl, Zoisite realized. But what else was new? His own slight frame, long wavy hair, and seductive green eyes often caused that mistake. The redhead wasn’t smiling, so she probably wasn’t flirting with him, but the look in her eyes was unreadable. “I was thinking the same thing about you,” he told her.

Kamatari stopped, a hint of a frown pulling the full lips down. A decisive light came into her eyes. “Come on,” she said, grabbing Zoisite’s arm and pulling him along.

“Hey, where are you taking me?!” Zoisite tried to tug his arm from her grip and gasped. This girl was amazingly strong!

“Relax, I just want to introduce you to a friend of mine.”

\--

“It wasn’t MY fault!”

“Kyo, how exactly is it someone else’s fault that you got in trouble in class for throwing an eraser?” asked Souma Shigure from where he calmly sat sipping his tea and watching his younger cousin pace.

“He DUCKED!” the orange-haired boy accused. “If that stupid demon hadn’t ducked, it wouldn’t have hit the teacher instead!”

Their twenty-year-old cousin, Ritsu, looked over with a hint of a smile. “You should have known better than to try. He’s fast.”

Kyo turned on him. “Who asked you, you cross-dressing monkey?!”

“I’m sorry!” Ritsu apologized quickly. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean –“

Shigure put his tea down. “Relax, Ritchan, Kyo is just being his usual bad-tempered self. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He eyed the teenager. “Kyo, just because Yuki isn’t here for you to take your anger out on, there’s no reason to pick on Ritchan.”

“Stupid rat should have come,” Kyo muttered. “How am I supposed to kill him if he isn’t around?!”

“I guess you’ll just have to kill someone else instead,” Shigure joked. “But I recommend it be someone whom you have a reasonable chance of catching.”

“What would be the point of killing someone else when it’s Yuki who’s the Rat of the Juunishi and everything is his fault?!” Kyo exclaimed.

“I thought today it was the demon’s fault.”

“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!”

A knock came at the door and since he was pacing right next to it, Kyo flung it open. “WHAT?!” He frowned. “Oh, Kamatari, it’s you.”

“Hi Kyo, don’t mind us.” Kamatari pulled Zoisite around and propelled him into Kyo’s arms.

“Oof!” Zoisite exclaimed as his face met Kyo’s chest.

“What the hell --?!” Kyo cried, eyes wide.

Kamatari cocked his head and grinned. “I guess he’s male!”

Kyo pulled Zoisite back by the shoulders and glared murderously at Kamatari. “Why, you --!”

“Ha ha ha!” Shigure laughed heartily.

“That’s Shigure and Ritsu over there, and this one is my friend, Kyo,” Kamatari said.

“Not for long!” Kyo snapped.

“And this is Zoisite,” Kamatari continued, ignoring him. “He just moved into the suite next to ours.”

“Hi,” Zoisite said, straightening his clothes. He looked at Kyo and blushed. “Sorry. I didn’t know she was going to do that, and I still don’t know why she did.” He cast a dirty look at Kamatari.

“’She’?” Kyo repeated with a sly grin and nodded at Kamatari. “HE is a cross-dresser, like Ritsu over there.”

Zoisite looked from Kamatari’s sweet, feminine visage and kimono over to Ritsu, who wore a furisode and had a big red ribbon in his long hair. He twisted a strand of his own butterscotch-coloured hair around his finger and sighed. “I guess I can’t talk, can I? But I still don’t know why you had to throw me into a total stranger,” he said pointedly to Kamatari.

“If you’d been a girl, Kyo would have been the proof of it,” Kamatari said. “That’s all I can say, it isn’t my secret to tell.”

“Oh, sure, NOW it’s a secret!” Kyo griped. “After you went and shoved him into me, of course he’s gonna want to know what’s going on!”

“So tell him,” Kamatari replied. “But do it while we show him around, come on!” He pulled both Kyo and Zoisite out the door, then waved back at Shigure and Ritsu.

“No one’s secrets stay that way for long here,” Shigure said good-naturedly.

“I hope Zoisite is prepared, Shigure-niisan,” Ritsu said worriedly. “Kyo-kun and Kamatari-chan can be a little overwhelming.”

“To put it lightly!” Shigure laughed and sipped more tea. “It will be a good test for him. If he can take them, he can handle the REALLY difficult ones no problem.”

\--

End of Part 1

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nephrite engages in a drinking contest with a beautiful stranger.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 2

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Jadeite looked at Nephrite in amusement. "So, great wine connoisseur, how do you rate the establishment's offerings?"

Nephrite drained his glass. "I approve. Although it will take a few more before I'm comfortably drunk."

"You don't need to get drunk the first day, you know," Jadeite told him. "Meet some people, familiarize yourself with the surroundings, THEN get drunk."

"You're keeping in good spirits considering you have to start college courses tomorrow," Nephrite nudged the other King.

"Me?" Jadeite laughed. "What about you? Kunzite said we BOTH have to go."

"I don't think he could have been serious about that."

"You'd better hope not." Jadeite nodded toward Nephrite's glass. "At this rate you'll be attending your first class with a hangover!"

"I don't have any reason to go to college. Neither do YOU, for that matter. We're supposed to be taking our place back by Prince Endymion's side."

"He's the one who wanted us to come here, especially for Zoi's sake," Jadeite reminded him. "He wants to go to college himself, so he thinks it's important." He shrugged. "I don't mind, I like learning new things, meeting new people." His gaze followed something behind Nephrite. "Speaking of that ...."

Nephrite began turning to follow his friend's line of vision, but as it turned out, the object of his interest came to the bar and sat only a few stools away.

She was a stunning Chinese beauty with rich purple hair tied in a single braid that reached her backside. Her two-piece outfit was traditional-style and expensive-looking.

"Hey, Nuriko, what'll it be?" the bartender asked.

"Give me a Special," she said with a smile. "I'm wasting some time before revising my research paper."

"Sure thing." The bartender mixed a drink and passed it to the young woman, who swallowed some without hesitation.

Nephrite smiled and half-turned on his stool so that he could lean casually against the counter. "A pretty girl like you should be careful of what you drink. Unscrupulous men might try to take advantage of you."

The Chinese woman gave him a long, slow look and put down her now-empty glass. "There is a lot of truth in what you say, but perhaps in this case, it would be me who takes advantage of you.” She smiled. “Especially if it comes to a drink-off.”

“You think so? Well, that’s a challenge I don’t think I can resist,” Nephrite replied. “Choose your weapon, my lady.”

The young woman named Nuriko signaled to the bartender. “Two more of these.” She pushed her glass toward him, then eyed Nephrite slyly. “This is a potent drink. Are you sure you want to risk it? You had a head start on me before I got here.”

Nephrite glanced at Jadeite with an ‘isn’t that cute?’ wink before facing Nuriko again.

“I don’t mind the disadvantage. Makes the contest more fair.”

Nuriko smiled and to Jadeite it looked like one of tolerance. He wondered if Nephrite realized it.

“I’m sure you’re right. Thank you for giving me an edge.”

“You’re welcome,” Nephrite replied and lifted his glass. “Shall we begin?”

No, Jadeite thought. He doesn’t see it. He’s also not noticing the mischievous gleam in this girl’s eyes.

Nuriko picked up her glass. “We keep going until one of us gives. The winner has their way with the loser.”

Nephrite chuckled throatily. “Sounds like _I_ win either way. You’re on.”

Jadeite shook his head. “All right, I guess that makes me the referee. Go!”

Both contestants began downing their drinks. Jadeite saw Nephrite wince slightly at his first swallow, but he stoically continued drinking until the glass was empty.

“Next!” he demanded, looking surprised to hear Nuriko echo him at the same instant. They got started on the second round.

“Looks like Nuriko found another patsy.” Jadeite heard someone nearby remark. He looked over and saw two men passing by – one very large and muscular, the other tiny and slight with an ‘X’ shaped scar on his cheek.

“Let’s hope this one fares better against him than you did, Shishou,” the redhead teased, earning a snort from the larger man.

Wait a minute, Jadeite started. ‘Him’? He turned back to the competitors to find the two of them working on their third drink. He studied Nuriko’s profile and might have thought it impossible that this lovely creature could be a male ….

Except for Zoisite.

Now that he took a closer look, the chest WAS pretty flat. He tried not to snicker, thinking of Nephrite’s surprise when he found out. Which, from the way things were going in the challenge, wouldn’t be much longer.

Nephrite was having trouble. He was having to force the booze down now, grimacing all the while. Nuriko didn't seem to be suffering much if at all. By the time they had both drained the fourth glass, Nephrite put his hand up.

"I ... can't. No mo'." He rubbed his eyes and glared at Nuriko. "How de hell can you ... hic ... not be affected?!"

Nuriko covered his mouth to stifle a hiccup of his own. "I'm getting there," he said. "But I'm used to this drink. I invented it."

"Hah?" Nephrite said in disbelief.

The bartender nodded, chuckling. "The Nuriko Special. He's the only one who can handle it in large amounts."

"'He'?" Nephrite repeated. He looked Nuriko up and down, wishing his vision wasn't so blurry. "Yer a boy?"

"My mind is female, but yes, physically, I am male." Nuriko smiled. "Does it matter? I won our contest, so I get to have my way with you. My gender was never brought into the terms of agreement."

"That's true, Nephrite," Jadeite said helpfully.

"Be quiet!" Nephrite snapped. He studied Nuriko again and a lascivious smirk claimed his face. "S'not so bad. Yer a real pretty boy, an' I like pretty boys, too."

"I'm happy for you, I'm sure," Nuriko said. "But the idea was that I get to have MY way, and that doesn't include whatever dirty thoughts you might be thinking." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose you could carry my books around to my classes tomorrow, but you'd have to stay two paces behind me at all times and call me 'Mistress' ...."

"Hell, no!" Nephrite exclaimed. He slammed his arm onto the counter, hand raised, palm spread. "If yer really a man, we'll settle this like men an' arm-wrestle!"

Nuriko blinked, then glanced past Nephrite to Jadeite. "Is he for real?"

The blonde King sighed. "I'm afraid so."

Nuriko shrugged. "All right then." He put his arm on the counter and wrapped his hand around Nephrite's.

"GO!" Nephrite yelled, and instantly found his fist flat against the counter. "HUH?!"

"Want to go again?" Nuriko asked in an innocent tone that didn't match the twinkle in his eye.

By that time, some of the other bar patrons had gathered to watch, and they were all laughing. "What's the joke?!" Nephrite demanded.

The large man Jadeite had overheard earlier placed a hand on Nephrite's shoulder. "Don't feel too badly, boy. He fooled me, too."

"Both with his gender and in a drinking contest," added the little redhead at the big man's side. "He found out about the hidden strength later, that he did."

The big man glared at the little one. "Just ignore my stupid pupil."

"Hidden strength?" Nephrite gazed at Nuriko suspiciously. The pretty eighteen-year-old grinned.

"I'm a Suzaku Seishi," he explained and pulled down a corner of his tunic to reveal the Chinese character for 'willow' glowing red on his chest. "My Seishi power is super-strength."

Jadeite burst into laughter. "You got taken on all levels!"

"I'll expect you at my suite by eight-thirty to carry my books," Nuriko said lightly and left the bar, humming a merry tune.

"You really should have guessed he was a Seishi, Mr. The-Stars-Know-Everything," Jadeite elbowed his comrade. "I thought there wasn't anything about the constellations that would get past you."

"'Nuriko', huh?" Nephrite murmured. "Yeah, I shoulda known."

"Don't feel badly, I'm sure you'll get to know him much better during your indentured servitude!" Jadeite grinned. “Especially as you didn’t put a time limit on it!”

\--

End of Part 2

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone from his past surprises Kamatari.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 3

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Zoisite had to admit he was impressed, at least in the hotel aspect of his new home. Kamatari and Kyo had told him about all the advantages of the place, and there were enough that it seemed almost like a country club. If he didn’t want to, he never had to leave the property. There were indoor and outdoor pools, a spa, gym, library, game room, lounges for both adults and kids, a cafeteria for quick meals and a dining room for leisurely ones. An on-staff doctor was rumoured to be a magical healer. Best of all, a diverse shopping complex could be reached through underground tunnels.

“And through the dining room there you can see the entrance to the bar, where we’re not supposed to go.” Kyo pointed, then scowled. “Kamatari, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he hissed from behind the two of them. “I’m hiding! Can’t you see Hiko in there?”

Kyo glanced back in amusement. “You grounded again?”

“Of course, now stop looking at me!”

“I never thought I’d hear those words out of your mouth.” Kyo snickered, then nudged Zoisite. “Hiko’s the big guy with the green hair and all the muscles. The little redhead with him is Kenshin. They’re Kamatari’s guardians.”

“Jailers is more like it,” Kamatari took a peek and ducked. “Oh no, here comes Nuriko! If he gives me away, I’ll kill him!”

Kyo laughed. “That’s what I want to see – you pit your strength against his!”

“He’s got me beat. His power is God-given.”

Zoisite barely heard the exchange. He was too busy staring at the approaching beauty and thinking ‘he’?”

“Hi Kyo-kun,” Nuriko greeted and smiled at Zoisite. “You have a new friend?”

“This is Zoisite,” Kyo said. “Zoisite, Nuriko.”

“I’ll bet you came with Nephrite,” Nuriko said with a grin. “I didn’t catch the name of his cute blonde friend.”

“That would be Jadeite, and you’re right, they’re with me.” He shook his head in wonder, studying the other boy. “You’re beautiful,” he admitted.

Nuriko smiled. “Thank you. So are you.”

“I just hope Kunzite never sees you,” Zoisite muttered.

“Kunzite? Another ‘ite’ in your group, hmm?” Nuriko cocked his head. “Your boyfriend?”

“Yes,” Zoisite admitted. “He’s older than I am. Twenty-five.”

“TWENTY-FIVE?!” Kamatari exclaimed, forgetting to stay hidden in his shock. “WOW!”

Nuriko blinked in surprise, but through the restaurant into the bar, came a much louder response.

“HONJOU KAMATARI! “

The pretty boy winced. “Kuso, he heard me!”

“Aliens on distant planets heard you, darling,” Nuriko remarked pleasantly. “Oh my, is that an earthquake starting?”

“No, just Hiko stomping this way over,” Kyo replied.

“I’m outta here,” Kamatari said quickly. “Meet you in the lounge!”

He darted down the hall just as Hiko emerged into the hallway. Kenshin peered around him, glancing fearfully up and down the corridor.

“Is something wrong, Hiko-san?” Nuriko asked.

“I heard Kamatari’s voice out here, the brat,” he growled. “He’s grounded for smart-mouthing his teacher.”

Kyo chuckled. “Yeah, that was great.”

Hiko fixed him with a frightening glare that made the orange-haired teen back up a step or two. “It was NOT great! He’s got another chance here, and he’s blowing it!”

Kenshin laid a hand on the other man’s powerful arm. “Shishou, we wanted Kamatari to experience life as a normal teenager. Is it not normal for children to rebel against school now and then?”

“Yes, but --!” Hiko began irritably.

“And he _does_ apply himself to his homework, does he not?”

“Yeah, when I nag him!”

“Hiko-san, I wouldn’t worry too much about Kamatari,” Nuriko reassured him. “He’s a very bright boy and I don’t think he means any real harm. He’s just adjusting to this new life in his own way.”

“Yeah, and he hasn’t killed anyone yet,” Kyo pointed out. “That’s a good thing, right?”

Kenshin sweatdropped. “I’m not sure you are helping, Kyo-kun, that I am not.”

Nuriko clapped his hands together. “Well, I have a research paper waiting for revision and I’ve put it off long enough. It was nice meeting you, Zoisite.” He started to leave, then looked back at him. “Oh, would you please remind Nephrite that I expect him no later than eight-thirty tomorrow morning?”

“Uh, sure,” the youngest King replied, startled.

“Thank you!” Nuriko smiled and walked away, his long braid swinging back and forth.

“Guess you don’t have to worry about your Kunzite guy, after all,” Kyo joked.

“What on Earth would someone as beautiful as he want with Nephrite?” Zoisite murmured. “What would ANYONE want with Nephrite?”

“Your friend lost a bet, that he did,” Kenshin explained and smiled ruefully. “I think he learned not to underestimate helpless-looking pretty boys.”

“If I didn’t already know that from YOU, I’ve learned it since from both Nuriko and Kamatari,” Hiko retorted. He drew himself up to his full, considerable height. “Speaking of which, let us go back to our room and await the errant child’s arrival. He has to come back SOME time.”

“Yes, Shishou.” Kenshin waited until Hiko had turned away, then pressed something back into Kyo’s hand. “Give that to Kamatari, and keep him company, if you will,” he whispered, and hurried to catch up with Hiko’s long stride.

Kyo and Zoisite glanced down at the money in Kyo’s hand. He snorted and grinned.

“Kenshin’s a good guy. He wants Kamatari to stay out for a while longer so he can calm Hiko down.” He counted the money. “He gave him enough to treat us, too. Cool.”

“Won’t that just make Hiko angrier if Kamatari stays gone so long?” Zoisite asked.

“Not with Kenshin influencing him. It’ll be okay. Come on,” Kyo headed down the hall, “let’s go to the lounge and give this to him.”

Zoisite followed, glancing back toward the bar with a wry grin. So Nephrite had gotten himself into some kind of trap with Nuriko, huh? He could hardly wait to press Jadeite for details so that he could enjoy the auburn-haired King’s dilemma more thoroughly.

\--

Kamatari turned down another corridor, heading for the kids’ lounge. He couldn’t hear Hiko anymore, so slowed down his pace. He was about to go into the elevator when someone grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth, dragging him backwards into a dark suite.

Kamatari had exceptional strength from long use of his nearly-seventy pound scythe, but his abductor had caught him by surprise and with being pulled backwards, he couldn’t gain his feet. As soon as the door was pushed closed and he felt the grip on him weaken, he spun around, intending to use all of his considerable force to smash a hole through his attacker’s face. His fist was caught in mid-punch and a soft voice chuckled.

“Ouch, that stung my palm! Do you really want to hurt me after all this time, Kama-chan?”

Kamatari’s eyes widened. “Soujirou?” he whispered.

The other boy released his fist and reached over to turn on the lights. “Surprise.” He smiled.

“Sou-chan!” Kamatari squealed, embracing the dark-haired young man with the youthful face tightly.

“Easy, easy!” Seta Soujirou laughed. “You’re crushing my ribs!”

Kamatari backed off and whacked him a good one in the shoulder. “You deserve it for what you just did! Scaring me like that! What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you, of course,” Soujirou replied. “After I left Shishio and became a wanderer, I heard about your arrest and the rumour that you were going to become a spy for the government.”

Kamatari sighed. “They wanted me to go undercover in Europe at a girls’ school. I could have done it – anything would be better than jail – but Himura-san insisted they turn me over to he and Hiko Seijuurou.” He shrugged. “It sounded like an easy out, not that I was given a choice in the matter.”

“And it turned out to not be so easy, after all?” Soujirou guessed. “Himura-san is a good man, though. I’m glad you’ve been with him, at least I know you’ve been safe.”

“But you came all this way to check on me, anyhow?” Kamatari smiled, reaching out to ruffle Soujirou’s perfect straight hair. “You want to come back to the suite with me? Kenshin will probably let you stay, too.”

Soujirou laughed. “I think not. Oh, he’ll let me stay, but why should I? I’ve got my own suite right here, and I don’t have to abide by anyone’s rules this way.”

Kamatari stared at him. “You’re just going to stay in an empty suite? Won’t someone figure it out?”

Soujirou winked. “Trust me.”

“I do.” Kamatari said seriously. Their eyes locked, and a moment later they embraced, kissing each other with a desperation born of far too much time apart.

“Sou-chan,” Kamatari murmured into his neck, feeling his eyes well up. “I’ve missed you so much. I could deal with losing Shishio, but to lose _you_ ….”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Soujirou answered, stroking the other boy’s soft hair. “I had killed the most important man in the Japanese government on Shishio’s orders – there was no way they would let me make a deal. Leaving you was the hardest thing I ever had to do.”

“I still can’t believe Shishio never figured it out about us – NONE of them did,” Kamatari giggled, wiping his eyes.

“Luckily for us, or we’d have been next on the Juppongatana hit list.” Soujirou chuckled. “Not that any of them would have been able to touch us without going down first.”

“Listen, I’m supposed to be meeting some friends at the Lounge – do you want to come with me?” Kamatari asked, squeezing his hand. “I’d like to introduce you.”

“Why not?” Soujirou said. “So long as I’m careful not to be seen by Himura-san. Hiko-san and I have never come in contact with each other, so I’ve no reason to avoid him.”

“That’s okay, _I_ do,” Kamatari said wryly. “Let’s go.”

“Just one last kiss first,” Soujirou pulled him close again and Kamatari gladly complied.

\--

End of Part 3

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiei and Kurama sense new arrivals.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 4

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Hiei batted at the tuft of bright red hair that tickled his nose. “Kurama, cut it out.”

“Oh, come on, Hiei, relax,” the beautiful, green-eyed boy said lightly. “You should be happy – you got Kyo into trouble in class today.”

“He got himself into trouble by trying to throw things at me,” the diminutive Koorimei snorted. “Stupid human should have known I’d easily dodge it.”

Kurama sat back on the lounge sofa and stretched an arm along the top, resting it against Hiei’s shoulders as he did so. It was a risk – Hiei didn’t like any displays of affection in public – but he was willing to take that chance. He smiled to himself when his obstinate boyfriend didn’t make a move to shift position, either to avoid the arm or lean into it. “Speaking of class, have you done your homework?”

“Why bother?” Hiei replied. “I’ll copy yours.”

“Oh?” Kurama grinned. “You just assume I’ll let you?”

Hiei turned to look up at him. “You know as well as I do that I don’t need this school and neither do you. Why are we persisting in this stupid farce?”

“Because we have no choice?” Kurama pointed out. “We were ordered to come here by King Enma himself, and he told us to enroll as students here until further notice.” He looked around the lounge at the other students talking, watching tv, or playing games. “I kind of like it here. The two of us even get to share a room, and the school is much nicer than my last one in the Human World.”

“That’s great for you, but I never had any interest in human schooling.” Hiei sniffed.

“Look at it this way, if Enma told us to come here, there had to be a reason. It’s certainly an easier task than participating in life or death contests in Makai, right?”

“Yeah, but at least those would be fun.” Hiei frowned. “This isn’t fun.”

“Not at all?” Kurama said mischievously and blew in Hiei’s ear. The fire demon coloured.

“Stop that,” he growled, making Kurama smile. If Hiei had really meant it, he’d have brandished his sword in his face.

“Hn,” Hiei remarked, looking past Kurama. “Who’s the new guy with Kama-crossdresser?”

Kurama followed his gaze and saw Kamatari walk in holding hands with a dark-haired boy. He was probably the same age as the redhead, but he had a very youthful face. “I don’t know,” he admitted, noticing the obvious affection the two shared in a glance. “But it looks like they’re close.”

“Wonder if Hiko knows about it,” Hiei said dryly. He imagined the mighty man-mountain erupting at the very idea. Hiko had been trying to keep a tight leash on Kamatari since their arrival at the school, and somehow Hiei didn’t think a boyfriend would factor into his plans.

Kurama watched the couple sit down and talk animatedly to each other. The smile on Kamatari’s face was the most genuine one he’d ever seen from the other boy. The newcomer was smiling, too, and the playful way he tugged on Kamatari’s hair was touching.

“This isn’t a new relationship,” Kurama observed. “They’ve known each other for a while.”

Hiei rolled his eyes. “If you’re that interested, why don’t you go over and introduce yourself?”

“I don’t want to disturb them,” Kurama replied, then his attention was drawn to the doorway. “But it looks like Kyo is about to do it – he’s heading over there. Oh! He has someone new with him, too!”

Hiei scowled, watching. “Another boy that looks like a girl? This place is getting overrun with them.”

“I’ve never heard you complain about that with me,” Kurama said mischievously, brushing some of his long, rose-scented hair back off his shoulders.

“You can’t help the way you look,” Hiei grumbled. “Besides, you don’t dress like a girl.”

“Neither does that one,” Kurama pointed out. “Although he’s very pretty.” He stood up. “Well, now we _do_ have to go over and meet both of them. It’s only polite.”

“And _you’re_ only nosy,” Hiei pointed out. “One would think you were a cat instead of a fox.”

\--

“For me?” Kamatari asked as Kyo handed him the money Kenshin had given him.

“Yeah, from Kenshin,” Kyo said. “He thought it would be best if you stayed away for awhile.” He eyed Soujirou. “He might not have if he knew about this guy, though. Who is he?”

“That’s what we were wondering,” Kurama remarked as he and Hiei joined them. “And your friend as well, Kyo.” He smiled at Zoisite.

“This is Zoisite,” Kyo said. “He and Kamatari already met. That’s Kurama and the shrimp is Hiei.”

“Watch it, Cat Boy,” Hiei snarled.

“It’s YOUR fault I got into trouble today!”

“It’s your own fault for trying to throw something at me,” Hiei retorted. He studied Zoisite’s eyes. “What are you? I don’t recognize your kind of demon.”

“Hey, I’m no demon!” Zoisite protested. “I’m a member of the Shitennou, protectors of the Prince of the Earth.” Hiei’s scrutiny of his eyes made him look away. “The colour changed a while back when we were infused with Dark Energy. Even after we escaped that fact didn’t change.”

“I think you have beautiful eyes,” Kurama remarked.

Look who’s talking, Zoisite thought ruefully. Kurama was breathtaking with his hair as red as a rose and faintly scented the same way, as well as those enormous leaf-green eyes. As he had with Nuriko, he hoped Kunzite stayed far away from this one.

“Thank you,” he managed to say. Kurama and Hiei were both giving off powerful you-ki that had his magical alarms going off. These were not simple students.

“This is Soujirou,” Kamatari was saying, the warm smile on his pretty face showing just how much he liked this guy. Zoisite didn’t blame him; Soujirou was adorable. He looked as clean-cut and sweet as they came.

After Kamatari finished introducing everyone, Soujirou said, “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. Thank you for taking care of Kama-chan in my absence.”

“He didn’t give us any choice – OOF!” Kyo grunted as Kamatari’s elbow caught him in the ribs. He hoped none of them were cracked. Hiei smirked.

“Are you a new student, too, Soujirou?” Zoisite asked. “I just got here today.”

“Me too!” Soujirou said cheerfully. “So neither of us will be by ourselves as ‘the new kid’ in class, ne?”

“Sou-chan, are you sure it’s a good idea for you to go to class?” Kamatari asked.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Hiei demanded. “If _I_ have to go, _everyone_ has to go!”

“Hiei,” Kurama chided gently.

“Of course I’ll go,” Soujirou said. “The day would be awfully long and dull otherwise, especially since Kama-chan will be there.”

“Hey, do you all want to go to the mall with us and kill some time?” Kamatari interrupted. “Kenshin gave me money, and it’s enough to treat everyone to ice cream.”

“I hate ice cream,” Hiei stated flatly.

“You liked it the last time you licked it off me,” Kurama replied lightly.

Hiei’s face turned red. “We’ll pass,” he said brusquely and turned to leave. “Come _on_, Kurama.”

“I guess we’ll see you later,” Kurama chuckled. He reached back into his hair and pulled out a perfect rose, which he handed to Zoisite. “It was nice meeting you.”

“T-Thank you,” Zoisite said, blushing.

“Hn,” Hiei remarked.

“It was a pleasure meeting you as well, Soujirou,” Kurama said with a smile. “Come on, Hiei.”

“Strange guys, but I kind of like them,” Zoisite decided, sniffing the rose as they walked away.

“Don’t bother liking Hiei,” Kyo snorted. “He’s a pain in the ass.”

“Well, let’s get going!” Kamatari said. “I want to get out of here with Kenshin’s money before Hiko finds out he gave it to me.”

\--

Kurama sighed as he opened the door to he and Hiei’s suite. “There’s no reason for you to be angry, you know. I only told the truth.”

“I don’t want _everyone_ knowing that ‘truth’ about us!” Hiei snapped, slamming the door after them.

“Why?” Kurama purred and slipped his arms around Hiei’s neck from behind. Hiei leaned back against Kurama’s chest and the taller boy rested his chin on his head. “Are you ashamed of me?”

“No,” Hiei said grumpily. “But some things are personal.”

Kurama turned Hiei around and leaned down, tipping the Koorimei’s chin up. “Like this?” He kissed him deeply.

Hiei held back for only half a beat before melting into the kiss. He reached up to grab a handful of Kurama’s thick red hair, holding him at his level for several moments of hungry kisses before overbalancing the kitsune into falling onto the sofa. He crawled on top of him, grinning wickedly.

“That’s better,” he said.

Kurama threaded his fingers through Hiei’s spiky black and white hair. “I agree,” he murmured. Hiei lowered his mouth over Kurama’s again.

Hiei began steadily relieving both himself and Kurama of clothing, with Kurama helping as best he could in keeping up with him. He had just slipped his hand into the redhead’s pants when Kurama suddenly sat bolt upright. “Hiei!”

“Yeah, you liked that, huh?” the smaller demon said knowingly.

“No – I mean, yes – but didn’t you feel that?”

“I’m feeling it right now. So should you be.”

“Hiei!” Kurama sounded exasperated and surprised his lover by pulling away from him. “I felt a shift somewhere. I think something just passed over here from Reikai or Makai!”

Hiei frowned. Kurama wasn’t one to panic needlessly, and yet he hadn’t felt any such thing himself. “Even if that’s true, it’s not a big deal. You know as well as I do that spirits and demons go back and forth all the time. We do it ourselves.”

“It must have been something else then.” Kurama rubbed his arms. “But I know it’s close, and it’s something not totally unlike ourselves.”

“So it’s either human, kitsune, Koorimei, or fire demon?” Hiei said wryly. “That narrows it down.”

Kurama extricated himself and stood up, fastening his pants. Hiei stared at him in disbelief. “Where are you going?!”

“I can’t stay in the mood while I’m worrying about this,” Kurama explained.

“Then stop worrying and get back down here!” Hiei demanded.

Kurama ignored him, turning slowly toward the second bedroom. “It’s in _there_,” he murmured and headed over.

Hiei bit back his annoyance as he realized he could suddenly feel otherworldly energy himself, and close by. In a flash, he had fixed his clothes and was standing at Kurama’s side with his sword drawn.

“Hiei?” Kurama queried.

“You were right,” he said grimly. “I should have listened.”

Kurama smiled. That was the best apology he’d ever gotten from Hiei. He brought forth another rose from his hair and gave it a flick, changing it into a deadly whip with razor-sharp thorns.

“Let’s go,” he said.

The two of them burst into the room, prepared to do battle with enemies from Makai, the demon world.

What they discovered were two kids sound asleep on the bed.

\--

End of Part 4

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiei and Kurama deal with the kids that were sent to them.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 5

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

For several moments after charging into the bedroom, both Hiei and Kurama remained poised with their weapons. The sight on the bed couldn’t possibly be right.

Finally, Kurama lowered his rose whip. “Hiei, they’re just children. They won’t hurt us.”

“Hn. We look like children, too,” Hiei reminded him shortly. It wasn’t a fact he was fond of admitting. “But we’re not.”

“I think they are.” Kurama made his whip disappear and moved closer to the bed. Hiei cautiously drew nearer as well, but kept his grip tight on the hilt of his sword.

“Oh,” Kurama breathed. “They’re sweet.”

Hiei studied the sleeping pair. One was smaller and younger than the other, with spiky white hair. He wore a t-shirt over a turtleneck and comfortable shorts. Hiei guessed him to be about twelve. His face was cherubic in slumber, but something about him looked familiar.

The other’s age was harder to determine – it could have been anywhere between fourteen to seventeen. Much to Hiei’s dismay, even the gender was questionable, but the flat chest made him figure on male. This one was a beauty. He had straight blonde hair that framed his pretty face perfectly and Chinese-style clothing. A single earring dangled on a chain from his left lobe.

“They must be under some kind of sleep spell to have arrived like this,” Kurama said. “So they didn’t do this themselves – someone sent them here.”

“Why would someone send kids to US?” Hiei demanded.

“I guess the logical thing to do is to wake them up and ask them.” Kurama leaned down and touched the blonde’s shoulder. His eyes opened and Kurama did a double-take. The boy’s enormous green eyes changed his face from beautiful to breathtaking.

There was instant recognition on the boy’s face when he saw Kurama, but then he glanced around the room and a sense of defeat filled his expression. “I guess they did it,” he remarked in a soft voice, then turned to the other boy and shook him. “Kirua, wake up.”

The younger boy blinked sleepily, then looked around at all three of them. His almond-shaped eyes were green as well, but much darker than the blonde’s. Hiei wasn’t sure he liked the way the kid studied him.

“You know who we are?” Kurama asked.

The younger one turned toward him, smiling slyly. “We should – Mother.”

“WHAT?!” Hiei yelled. Kurama paled.

“M-Mother?” he repeated weakly.

The blonde sat up. “My name is Kurapika. This is my brother, Kirua. And yes, you are our mother. We’ve come from your future.”

“Ku-ra-maaaa,” Hiei said dangerously. “Is there something you should tell me?”

“What?” the redhead asked in surprise. “I don’t know anything about this!”

“Who are you having kids with in the future?!” Hiei held up his sword. “Tell me now so I know who to kill!”

Kurapika stared at Hiei for a moment, then calmly reached over and turned his brother’s face toward the fire demon. “Take a good look and ask Mother that again.”

Hiei locked eyes on Kirua’s impassive face . The shape of the nose, lips, and eyes, the spiky hair, and finally, the tiny smirk the boy gave him ….

“Hn,” Kirua remarked.

That one trademark sound made Kurama pale further, while Hiei simply passed out cold.

\--

Kunzite looked up as Nephrite and Jadeite entered the Shitennou suite. “I wondered where you two had gotten to. Have you looked around to your satisfaction?”

“We got sidetracked in the bar,” Jadeite replied, then smirked in Nephrite’s direction. “And Nephrite managed to get himself trapped into indentured servitude!”

“I don’t care WHAT we agreed on, I’m not serving that purple-haired minx for any longer than one day!” Nephrite retorted, dropping into a chair with arms folded.

Kunzite raised an eyebrow. “What is he babbling about, Jadeite?”

“He lost both a drinking contest and an arm-wrestling match to a beautiful woman who turned out to be a man,” the blonde replied, trying not to chuckle. “He hooked Nephrite and reeled him in like a prize fish.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not fair to use bait like that,” Nephrite grumbled.

Kunzite shook his head and put down the papers he’d been studying. “Seems to me that if you hadn’t been drinking to start with, you might have kept clearer wits about you and not been such a patsy.”

Nephrite bristled. “How do YOU know I was drinking beforehand?!”

“You were already in the bar, correct?” Kunzite stood up. “I went out briefly myself, to scout around the school section and see where Zoisite would be attending class. I met a couple of his teachers, and they seem capable enough for normal students. I just hope they can handle Zoisite.”

“Famous last words,” Nephrite snorted.

“On our way back here I caught a glimpse of Zoi leaving with a group of kids,” Jadeite mentioned. “It looked like he was already making friends.”

Kunzite smiled fondly. “Good. I’d like for him to enjoy being a teenager for a change.”

“Does that mean you’re going to stop sleeping with him?” Nephrite asked peevishly, not really thinking about what he was saying or to whom he said it until Kunzite loomed over him. The white-haired High King leaned over, placing both palms on the chair back on either side of Nephrite’s head.

“I suggest you watch what you say from now on, particularly on matters which are none of your concern,” Kunzite threatened in a low voice, his icy eyes locked with Nephrite’s. The younger King kept his mouth shut as Kunzite left the suite in a swirl of cape.

“I always thought it was Zoisite who never knew when to shut up,” Jadeite remarked dryly. “But now I know it’s you.”

\--

Hiei blinked his eyes open a crack. He had an image of Kurama above him, pressing a cold compress to his face. “Kurama,” he murmured, “I had a terrible dream. There were these kids, and —“

He stopped abruptly as his vision cleared and the pretty blonde named Kurapika replaced the imagined vision of Kurama.

“Father, are you all right?” he asked, the luminous green eyes reflecting concern.

“I’m not your father,” Hiei snapped, sitting up. The cloth on his forehead fell into his lap, then onto the floor as he stood. “Kurama?!” he called out.

“Over here.” The redhead came out of the bathroom, drying his face with a hand towel. “I just needed a shock of cold water to clear my head.”

“Geez, is it so hard to believe you’re our parents?” Kirua asked from where he sat backwards on a chair. “You can see the resemblance between you and Kurapika, and between me and the Old Man, can’t you?”

“Hey!” Hiei snarled, fangs showing. “Don’t call me that!”

“Why not, Old Man?” The boy grinned.

“Kirua, stop it,” Kurapika admonished.

Kirua stuck his tongue out at him. “Stop it yourself.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Kurapika replied irritably.

“So do something then stop it.”

The blonde sighed and shook his head. He pulled an envelope out of his tunic and handed it to Kurama. “I found this in my pocket a few moments ago. It has your name on it.”

Kurama accepted the envelope and glanced at Hiei before opening it. He pulled out a letter and Hiei went over to peer around him at it.

“That looks like your handwriting, Kurama.”

“It is,” Kurama answered and began to read out loud from the letter:

“To Kurama and Hiei of the past,

We’re sorry to do this to you without prior warning, but our children are in danger here. The only way to ensure their safety is to send them to you for now. When Hiei and I have eliminated the threat, we will have them brought back to our time. Please take care of them for us.

Good luck, Kurama.”

He and Hiei exchanged an apprehensive look. “’Good luck’?” they repeated.

Kirua smiled in a sweetly disturbing way but Kurapika took pity on them. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. Mother is prone to over-worrying.”

“He is? I mean, I am?” Kurama asked.

“What’s this threat he’s talking about?” Hiei demanded.

“As I said, it’s nothing,” Kurapika stated, avoiding their eyes. “There was no reason to send us here.”

Hiei noticed that Kirua lost all humour in his expression as he listened to his brother. Obviously the kid had some doubts.

There were a few moments of silence in which no one was sure what to say next. Finally, Kurama took a deep breath and smiled. “I guess we’re going to be together for a while, so there’ll be time to get to know each other. Are you hungry?”

Kirua jumped up. “Yeah! The argument took so long that none of us had lunch!”

Hiei was about to ask what argument he meant but Kurama spoke first, “Fine, then we’ll order some room service.” He paused thoughtfully. “I guess we’ll have to enroll them in classes while they’re here, won’t we? We can’t just go off to school and leave them alone.”

“How about we send them to school and WE stay here alone?” Hiei suggested.

“No, Hiei.”

“Feh.”

Kirua giggled and Hiei shot him a look. “What’s so funny?!”

The white-haired boy grinned. “Sounds like home already!”

Hiei glanced at Kurapika who nodded agreement. The Koorimei ground his fangs in frustration. What the hell were they in for with this arrangement?

\--

End of Part 5

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoisite, Kyo, Kamatari, and Soujirou are attacked while in the mall.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 6

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

There he was, the target was sighted. However, he wasn’t alone. In fact, there were unfamiliar people with him. No matter. They would just have to bear witness to his superior fighting skill in combat right there in the mall.

\--

“This is really great, Kamatari, thanks for treating us,” Zoisite said as he licked his ice cream spoon.

“Don’t thank me, thank Kenshin,” Kamatari said, then rolled his eyes. “On second hand, don’t. Otherwise, Hiko will find out he gave me the money and then both Kenshin and I will have to listen to an hour-long lecture.”

“Hey, tell me about those guys who wouldn’t come with us,” Zoisite said. “They thought I was a demon – is that what they are?”

“Yeah, they’re from Makai, the Demon World,” Kyo said. “Hiei is a Koorimei by birth, but they’re all supposed to be Ice Women, and he was born not only male, but a Fire Demon. They threw him off their floating iceberg.”

“Huh?” Zoisite said, startled.

“The iceberg floats.” Kamatari pointed up. “In the Makai sky.”

“Interesting,” Soujirou remarked. “I could well imagine why a Fire Demon would not be welcome on an iceberg.”

“Kurama is actually a 400-year-old kitsune called Youko Kurama,” Kamatari explained. “He was shot and nearly died fifteen years ago, but transferred his spirit into an unborn Earth baby. He grew up all over again as a kid named Shuuichi, but finally had to leave his human home to come here on orders from the King of Reikai, the Spirit World. Youko Kurama was a professional thief, and Hiei got involved in shady dealings himself, so now they have to follow King Enma’s orders to avoid punishment for past crimes.” The pretty boy sighed ruefully. “I know the feeling.”

Soujirou put an arm around him. “Kama-chan and I were members of the Juppongatana. We worked for a man named Shishio who wanted revenge on the Japanese government. Himura-san was nearly killed trying to stop Shishio, but he did it. Hiko-san was part of the group that caught Kama-chan and some others. I got away.”

“I had agreed to work for the government as a spy rather than go to jail, but Kenshin worked out a deal so that he could take me in instead.” Kamatari put his chin in his hands. “There are some days when I think jail would be less confining. Kenshin’s not so bad, but Hiko has been Kenshin’s master since he was nine years old and now he thinks he’s MY boss, only I don’t get any training out of it, just hassle.”

“And what’s your story, Kyo?” Zoisite asked. “Kamatari said it wasn’t his secret to tell, but I still want to know why he shoved me into you and thought it would be a way to determine my gender.”

Kyo made a face at Kamatari, who smiled sweetly. The orange-haired boy frowned. “You know the legend of the Juunishi, Zoisite?”

“The one about the Chinese Zodiac and the animals that attended God’s banquet?”

“And the Cat that was tricked into missing it by the Rat?” Kyo looked at him seriously. “I’m the Cat.”

“The Soumas have carried the Juunishi curse for hundreds of years,” Kamatari said. “There are always thirteen family members who carry the spirit of the Zodiac animals and the Cat that got left out. This generation, that Cat is Kyo.”

“I thought you said this wasn’t your secret to tell!” Kyo said in irritation.

Kamatari stuck his tongue out at him. “You already got it started, what’s the diff?”

Zoisite looked at Kyo curiously. “The ones I met in your suite – are they Juunishi members, too?”

“Yeah, Shigure’s the Dog and Ritsu’s the Monkey,” Kyo said. “We’re all cousins. Yuki, the Rat, and I don’t get along and used to fight on a daily basis, but he’s back home.”

“This still doesn’t explain shoving me into you,” Zoisite pointed out.

Kyo sighed. “If you had been a girl, pushing you into my arms would have triggered the curse and made me transform into a cat for real. It only happens with the opposite sex.”

“Wow. I hope for your sake that you like guys,” Zoisite remarked.

“Kyo doesn’t like anybody,” Kamatari smirked and Kyo waved a sticky spoon at him threateningly.

“I put up with YOU, don’t I?”

“You guys have any other friends I haven’t met yet?” Zoisite asked.

“Yeah, there are a lot – pretty much all the kids in this hotel are friends. There's one in particular,” Kamatari said, giving Kyo a sly look. “He’s Kyo’s battle buddy.”

Before the orange-haired boy could open his mouth to reply, his eyes suddenly widened and he, Kamatari, and Soujirou all cried, “Look out!” before diving away from the table.

All Zoisite saw in the next instant was a haze of pale blue, and then he was laying half-under the splintered table.

“Missed!” declared a disappointed voice.

“Missed?!” Zoisite exclaimed in fury as he struggled to free himself from what was left of the table. “You got ME!”

“Are you okay?” Kyo asked, helping his new friend to his feet. “The idiot was after me.” He glared over at the intruder. “Signal, what kind of move was that, sneaking up behind me?!”

“Hmmph. Don’t whine, Kyo – it’s not manly. Besides, I knew you’d sense my approach and you did.”

“But you almost killed Zoisite!” Kamatari yelled. “Next time I’ll crush your circuits to dust, you egotistical bucket of bolts!”

“My apologies – Zoisite, was it?”

The youngest King of the Shitennou finished assessing the condition of his limbs, clothing, and finally, hair. He looked up to clearly see Kyo’s attacker.

Other than Hiko earlier, Zoisite had never seen a male with such long hair. It swept the floor and bushed out wildly around his handsome face. At least this one, despite the long blue hair and pretty blue eyes, didn’t seem effeminate in any way. He was very thin, but from the way he’d broken the table, obviously strong. He wore a short red jacket, tight black pants that were vaguely aviator-style, and weird metal boots that went all the way to his knees. They had to be awfully heavy – how could he even walk?

He remembered that the boy had apologized. “Uh, yes, that’s right. I didn’t catch your name, though.”

“Uh oh,” Kamatari muttered and Kyo groaned.

The blue-haired boy struck a pose and announced loudly, “I am the warning signal to evil! The signal of protection for the weak! My name is Signal!”

Zoisite blinked. This kid was weird with a capital Loony.

“Again, I’m sorry for what happened. Kyo was my opponent and I thought he’d be ready for me.”

“Any other time I would have been, but we’re showing Zoisite and Soujirou around!”

“This is Soujirou,” Kamatari indicated. “He’s a secret – you do NOT mention him to Hiko or Kenshin or any adult, got it?”

“Got it.” Signal nodded and grinned at Soujirou. “Nice to meet you! I am Signal, the warning to –“

“HE KNOWS!” Kyo and Kamatari yelled.

“We _all_ know!” one of the other food court patrons called out, drawing laughs from those surrounding them.

Signal shook his head as he looked at the broken table. “Tsk! Shigure’s not going to be happy with you, Kyo.”

“Me?!” Kyo exclaimed. “YOU broke it! Pulse is gonna kill you!”

“I wouldn’t have broken it if you’d blocked like you should have.”

Zoisite leaned closer to Kamatari while the other two boys argued. “Who or what is Pulse?”

“Signal’s big brother,” Kamatari replied. “He’s nineteen, three years older.”

“Why do they have such weird names?”

“They’re perfectly normal names.” Kamatari winked. “For robots.”

“You mean …?” Zoisite turned back to watch Signal and Kyo squabbling, this time studying the blue-haired boy more closely. He realized suddenly that what he thought was a recurring design on Signal’s clothes was actually a series of connector points. One on either side of the neck, four in the front of his jacket and one on each foot. They were places for some kind of thick cables to attach to, like hooking up an external hard drive or something.

“He’s the latest in a series of human-form robots built by a robot scientist called Professor Otoi,” Kamatari explained. “They went all the way through the alphabet with names, but there are only four of them considered to be in the same ‘family’ – Signal and Pulse have two older siblings.”

“All right, you kids!” A man stomped through the food court and stopped by their broken table. “I know who you are and this time I want reimbursement for the damage you’ve caused! This makes four times in a week and a half!”

“Sorry,” Kyo grumbled and gave Signal a dirty look. The teenage robot shrugged.

“You don’t seem too worried, Signal-san,” Soujirou remarked.

“Pulse can’t say much – half the time HE’S the one breaking stuff,” Signal replied.

“Yeah, while chasing after YOU!” Kyo retorted.

“Is that so?” the man declared. “Well, in that case we’ll just put you on maintenance detail to work off the damage!” He grabbed Signal by the hair and started walking away, dragging him backwards.

“HEY! You can’t do this to me! I’m a battle robot, not a janitor! KYOOOO--!”

Kyo waved goodbye. “If you’re late getting home, I’ll let Pulse know. Have fun!”

“Well, it was interesting meeting him, even if he almost creamed me,” Zoisite remarked. “I’ve never seen such a realistic robot!”

“Signal may be the most advanced technology-wise,” Kamatari remarked conspiratorially, “but you should see his brother for serious sexiness!”

“Kama-chan!” Soujirou laughed. “Should I be jealous of a robot?”

Kamatari hugged Soujirou’s arm and kissed his cheek. “Not for a second, Sou-chan! But Zoisite _likes_ older men,” he added impishly, his gaze sliding to the other boy.

“Hey, I already have one, and he’s the sexiest of all,” Zoisite said with a confident smile.

Kyo snorted and shook his head. “We’re done here,” he said, glancing at the broken table. “Let’s get going.”

\--

End of Part 6

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamatari faces Hiko upon returning home.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 7

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Hiei watched in amazement and some revulsion as Kirua inhaled the sundae Kurama had bought for him. The four of them had registered the kids in school and then had decided to get something to eat in the hotel restaurant. Kirua had picked at dinner, but couldn’t seem to get dessert down fast enough. At least Kurapika didn’t eat like an animal; he was as polite and well-mannered as his mother. Hiei wondered where Kirua got his eating habits from as he licked butterscotch, marshmallow, and chocolate syrup off his own spoon.

“Kurapika’s placement test was off the chart,” Kurama said, gazing at the green-eyed blonde proudly.

“Like yours was,” Hiei remarked.

Kurama smiled with pleasure. “Well, yes, but it’s still surprising that our son does just as well.”

“Actually, my score was higher, according to what the examiner said,” Kurapika pointed out. “But only by a couple of points,” he added generously.

Hiei smirked at the quirky expression Kurama got on his face at that. “Looks like you had a kid just like you,” he said.

Kirua pushed his empty sundae dish aside and reached for Kurapika’s. The older boy gave it up without a fight.

“Hey, you little brat, leave your brother’s dessert alone!” Hiei scolded as he got started on Kurama’s sundae.

“It’s okay, Father,” Kurapika said wryly. “I haven’t eaten dessert since Kirua was born.”

“I know the feeling!” Kurama chuckled.

“Hn,” Hiei commented and went back to his ice cream.

“Just so you’ll know, boys, this school teaches all levels, from Kindergarten through college,” Kurama said. “So although there aren’t any kids your age on our floor, Kirua, you’ll meet some in class for sure.”

Kirua glanced in Kurapika’s direction briefly before turning back to his dish. “That’s okay, I probably won’t need to go looking for other kids.”

His brother shot him a look that puzzled both Hiei and Kurama. It almost seemed like one of resentment.

“Kirua has a best friend at home,” Kurapika said. “And it wouldn’t be good to get too attached to anyone here, since we’ll be going back.”

“I suppose there is some logic in that,” Kurama remarked. “But you don’t want to shut yourselves off completely while you’re here, either. That’s why we wanted you in school.”

“I thought it was so they wouldn’t get into trouble while WE were in school,” Hiei snorted.

“We don’t mind going to school –“ Kurapika started.

“Speak for yourself!” Kirua interrupted.

Kurapika turned on him. “Then don’t!”

“I don’t have a choice!”

“Shut up!” Hiei ordered. “If you two are like this in the future, I know why your parents dumped you back here!”

“Hiei!” Kurama admonished. “We’re not that irresponsible!” He paused. “I hope.”

“You read the letter.” Kirua shrugged. “We’re here for a reason.”

“You planning to tell us that reason anytime soon?” Hiei asked directly.

“It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t involve this time period,” Kurapika said, giving Kirua a warning look. The younger boy held his gaze for a moment, then went back to the dessert.

“You know,” Hiei said, voice rising in irritation, “we don’t appreciate being put off! We asked you a question, and –“

“Hiei,” Kurama said gently, putting a hand on his arm, “there’s no point in getting angry. They’ll tell us when they’re ready.”

Hiei scowled, clearly not happy with that conclusion. Kurama noticed that Kurapika visibly relaxed and that helped confirm a suspicion that had been forming. He would talk to Hiei about it later.

\--

Kyo and Zoisite headed down the hall of their floor together. After they’d all gone back up into the hotel, Kamatari had elected to stay in Soujirou’s room for a while before going back to face Hiko. That left Kyo and Zoisite to continue alone.

“I have a feeling I didn’t have to worry about being bored here, after all,” Zoisite remarked with a grin. “Thanks to you and your friends.”

Kyo glanced at the other boy, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, they’re okay. Even Hiei and Kurama are cool, but don’t tell Hiei I said so, because he’s also really irritating.”

Zoisite giggled. “That sounds like Nephrite. He has his moments of ‘cool’, but mostly we get on each other’s nerves.”

“So,” Kyo said slowly, not looking at Zoisite, “what’s this Kunzite guy like, anyway?”

Zoisite twirled a strand of hair around one finger. “What can I say? He’s wonderful. Handsome, strong, commanding, a powerful mage, a good leader –“

“A good lover?” Kyo added with a hint of wryness.

Zoisite looked at him, startled. “Why would you ask that?”

Kyo coloured slightly. “Yeah, that was pretty crass, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Zoisite replied with a shrug. “I’m not offended.” He paused. “To be honest, I have nothing to compare him to. I’ve never had another lover.”

“Hmm,” Kyo answered.

The two of them stopped as they came around a corner and saw Hiei and Kurama going into their suite with two unfamiliar kids.

“So who are they?” Zoisite asked.

“Never seen them before,” Kyo admitted. “They look sort of like relatives, don’t they?”

“Yes, but from what you told me of their backgrounds, neither of them would have any.”

“Hiei has a twin sister, actually, and they’re friends, but she doesn’t know they’re related.” Kyo shook his head. “Those two blondes are a mystery to me, though. Wonder why they didn’t mention them when we spoke earlier.”

“Could be they arrived late.” Zoisite grinned. “I’m already not the newest one here!”

Kyo grinned back at him. “Well, here’s your door.” He tapped it with a knuckle.

“Thanks for walking me back. See you tomorrow?”

“Yep. Bye for now!” Kyo waved and walked back down the hall, glancing back to make sure Zoisite made it safely inside his suite.

He went into his own a few moments later and Shigure smiled over at him. “You were gone a long time. Did you have fun with your new friend?”

“Yeah, Zoisite’s cool, and –“ he stopped himself before mentioning Soujirou.

“And what?” Shigure prompted curiously.

“Looks like a couple of new kids are staying with Hiei and Kurama.” Kyo dropped down on his knees by the low table to get some of the tea Ritsu was pouring. “I think they’re related or something – there are similarities.”

“Any relatives of those two are bound to be interesting,” Shigure remarked.

“And possibly dangerous,” Ritsu added.

“Bah, _I_ can be dangerous when I want to be,” Kyo retorted.

“Especially to my house, but at least I don’t have to worry about that here,” Shigure said, then noticed a twitch in Kyo’s cheek. “Unless you’ve broken the hotel again.”

“Signal did it!” Kyo said defensively. “He attacked me when my back was turned! How honourable is that?!”

“Didn’t you used to attack Yuki in his sleep?” Ritsu asked.

Shigure snickered. “And still got his butt kicked.”

“Well, anyway,” Kyo muttered, “at least no one got hurt.” He thought about how Kamatari and Soujirou had easily eluded the attack, but Zoisite had come close to ending up like the table. He couldn’t let that happen again – the other boy needed some better instruction in self-defense. He decided to offer to teach him. With fight-happy Signal around, especially being after him, it was only smart to make sure those he hung out with were safe.

\--

Kamatari hummed happily as he headed for his suite. It hadn’t been easy to finally pull himself away from Soujirou, and truthfully, he’d be happy if he could just stay there with him. Still, he knew he was lucky to be reunited with his boyfriend at all.

His thoughts were still back in Soujirou’s arms when he opened the door to his suite and went in, but he was jarred back to reality when a strong hand grabbed his bicep. The split-second of inattention cost him a normal lightning-fast reaction, and he suddenly found himself face-down over a broad lap.

“Hey, what gives?!” he yelled, struggling. “Let go of me!”

“Like fun I will!” Hiko boomed back. “Every time I turn my back on you, you’re disappearing! You were grounded, remember? Well, now I’ll punish you in a way you can’t escape!”

“No!” Kamatari cried, then did a double-take. Had he heard an echoing protest nearby? He twisted his head until he could see Hiko with his hand upraised over his backside and Kenshin’s restraining hand on his wrist.

“Kenshin, let go,” Hiko told him. “This child has to be punished.”

“Not this way, Shishou,” Kenshin said firmly. “His life before coming here was nothing but violence, that it was. There should be no more of it.”

“It never hurt YOU any!” Hiko retorted.

Kenshin gave him a wry look. “Yes, it did.”

“Well, it was SUPPOSED to!”

“Shishou ….”

“Oh, for –!” Hiko let go of Kamatari, who jumped up as fast as he could and moved behind Kenshin, despite being taller than the former hitokiri.

“Thanks, Kenshin,” he said gratefully.

“He still can’t get away with what he did,” Hiko told the smaller man warningly.

“I’ll speak to him,” Kenshin told him. “You may leave us.”

Hiko grumbled as he headed for he and Kenshin’s bedroom, giving Kamatari a warning glare as he passed. Kenshin waited until the door was shut before turning to face the teenager.

“He is right, Kamatari. You have been taking advantage of us and paying no attention to the punishments that Shishou imposes on you.”

“You can’t blame a guy for trying.” Kamatari grinned hopefully.

“Shishou can,” Kenshin pointed out. “And for that matter, so can I. I can not approve of the disrespect you show your teachers, which is what you were grounded for. We left you here and hoped we could trust you to remain, but you did not.”

Kamatari shifted in place. He could take Hiko bellowing for hours, but a few moments of listening to Kenshin’s quiet scolding was much more difficult. He almost made him feel guilty. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“I will believe that if you comply with what I am about to say,” Kenshin told him seriously. “I will keep Shishou from spanking you or inflicting harsh punishment on you, but only if you are honest with me from this moment forward. If I ask you a question, I will expect a truthful answer from you, even if you think it will get you into trouble. If you are honest, you need only deal with me. If you are not, and I find out, I will assume that you would rather accept punishment from Shishou and will no longer intercede on your behalf. Do we understand each other?”

The pretty boy nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Good.” Kenshin smiled. “First question.” He reached out and tapped a finger lightly to Kamatari’s lips. “Tell me who it is who has kissed you hard and long enough to cause your lower lip to swell so.”

Kamatari gulped.

\--

End of Part 7

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nephrite begins his servitude to Nuriko, and Signal has a solution to Kamatari's problem.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 8

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Nuriko finished tying off his long braid and checked himself out in the mirror. He had dressed in boy-style Chinese clothing and told himself it was just coincidence, but deep down he knew better. In reality, he was feeling mischievous and wanted to give his new slave a little extra nudge, reminding him that he’d been fooled into thinking a girl would be easy prey in arm-wrestling. Studying his lovely reflection, Nuriko had to chuckle. Without his Seishi power, he supposed his slender build would still have made him look like a target.

A knock at the door made him check his watch. Eight-thirty, the man was prompt. He went to open the door. “Good morning, Nephrite.” He smiled.

The auburn-haired King seemed to be trying hard not to scowl, but his frown deepened when he looked Nuriko up and down. “Are you sure you’re not a girl?”

The Seishi blinked and gestured down at his silk tunic and pants set. “Even in this you can’t tell?”

Nephrite folded his arms. “I’m here, so what am I supposed to be doing?”

Nuriko’s maroon eyes met his. “Anything I say.” He pointed to a stack of books on the desk. “You can start by carrying those. We’ll compare class schedules as we walk and find out how much time you can devote to serving me.”

Nephrite picked up the books. There were several heavy texts amongst them and he wondered how he would manage all these plus his own books when he got them.

Nuriko walked out into the hall. “Come along, we still have to stop by the office for your books, don’t we?”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Nephrite followed him.

Nuriko pulled the door shut behind him and gave the taller man a warning look. “Don’t forget to call me ‘Master.’”

“Yesterday you wanted it to be ‘Mistress’,” Nephrite retorted.

“Yesterday I was wearing girls’ clothes. Today I’m not.” Nuriko preceded him down the hall and gave him a haughty look over his shoulder. “Try to keep up – physically, at least, since mentally may be a longshot.”

As Nephrite trailed after Nuriko, he envisioned himself wrapping that long braid around his pretty Master’s throat.

\--

Hiei was enjoying the last swallow of his morning hot chocolate with cinnamon and honey when Kurama dropped into the seat next to him, looking anxious. “We need to talk.”

The fire demon looked around and noticed Kurapika and Kirua were nowhere nearby. “I guess you wanted privacy?”

The redhead nodded. “I’ve been trying to find a moment since yesterday, but we’re never alone now.”

Hiei smirked. “We were alone in bed last night.”

Kurama gave him a steady look. “You had other things on your mind there.”

“And you didn’t?”

“Hiei, this is serious!” Kurama exclaimed, then glanced behind him. The kids were getting dressed but could be out at any moment. He turned back to Hiei. “I think I’ve figured out one thing about why the kids are here.”

“To prevent their own conception by interrupting our fun?”

Kurama put a hand on Hiei’s arm. “Please, don’t. I’m afraid.”

Hiei sobered. The look in his fox’s big green eyes worried him. “Okay, what is it?”

Kurama sighed, grateful to finally have his attention. “You know the note I wrote to us says the boys are in danger. But after watching and listening to them, I think it’s actually Kurapika who is at risk, and Kirua is here with him as a sort of backup or bodyguard.”

Hiei drained his mug and met his gaze seriously. “Why wouldn’t they just tell us that? Or at least tell us who is after him?”

“I don’t know,” Kurama admitted. “What they said might be partially true – it might be that some of these future events are better off unknown to us now. However, _we_ sent our children here to be safe, and part of that is being able to protect them ourselves. We need to know what the threat is, and why it’s aimed at Kurapika.”

“You’re that sure it’s just him?”

Kurama nodded. “He exhibits all the signs of someone who is under enforced protection, and from the resentful glares he keeps casting Kirua, I’m sure he’s the guard.”

Hiei frowned. “Future events or not, Kurama, I want to know what’s going on.”

Kurapika and Kirua came out of their room and their parents turned to them. Kurama smiled. “Ready for class?”

“Yes,” answered Kurapika.

“No,” Kirua replied. “In fact, I think I’ll just skip my own class entirely and just hang out in Kurapika’s all day.”

“And why would you want to pass up a class on your level to sit in on one that’s bound to be too hard for you and boring as a result?” Hiei asked.

Kirua shrugged. “Any classes are going to be boring, so what’s the difference?”

“Are you sure there isn’t some other reason why you want to stay with your brother?” Hiei pressed.

“Yes,” the little boy replied, holding Hiei’s gaze.

Kurama put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him reassuringly. “Hiei and I will be in the same classes as Kurapika. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Who’s worried?” Kirua turned away and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Come on, let’s go.”

Kurapika followed his brother out, avoiding his parents’ eyes.

“Tonight,” Hiei said steadily to Kurama. “Tonight they tell us what’s going on or else.”

\--

Kamatari slipped out the door and quickly headed down the hallway. He tried not to feel guilty about sneaking out, but it wasn’t easy.

Through some miracle of luck, he’d managed to avoid Kenshin’s direct question about his boyfriend the previous night. Actually, that luck first took the shape of Hiko calling Kenshin to bed before he could answer him, and this morning Kamatari had carefully made sure never to be alone with him.

He knew that luck couldn’t hold forever, but he hoped Kenshin would forget that he’d asked. Somehow, though, that didn’t seem very likely.

A hand slapped him on the back and he turned to see Signal smiling at him. “You look like you’ve got a big problem. You’re frowning.”

“I am?” Kamatari vowed to stop that – he didn’t want frown lines, after all. “So,” he said, changing the subject, “did Pulse go ballistic on you about the broken table?”

Signal grinned. “He didn’t find out! I guess thanks to the manual labour I did yesterday, they decided not to report me.” He cocked his head. “So what was your problem? The one that was making you frown?”

Kamatari sighed. His first instinct was to tell Signal it was personal, but maybe the robot would have some useful advice. Stranger things had happened. Or maybe he was just desperate.

“I’m already having trouble keeping Soujirou a secret from Kenshin. Who ELSE but Kenshin could be so observant as to notice someone’s kiss-swollen lips, for crying out loud?” He shook his head. “I really don’t know what to do. He’s not only sharp, but his memory is probably too good for him to forget we were having that conversation, so he’s bound to bring it up again. I can’t avoid him forever.”

“He wants to know who’s kissing you?” Signal asked and shrugged. “Give him a name, any name. He doesn’t know every guy in this place, right?”

“But he’d wonder why he never sees me with him.”

Signal looked thoughtful, then grinned broadly and threw an arm around Kamatari’s shoulders. “Tell him it’s ME!”

The shorter boy pushed off his arm and cast the robot a death-glare. “Be serious.”

“I am!” Signal insisted. “You mainly hang out with Kyo and me, right? But if you try to get Kyo to go along with it, he’ll say no.”

“That’s true,” Kamatari admitted.

“Just let Kenshin believe it for a couple of days, then you can say we had a fight and broke up or whatever.”

Kamatari nodded slowly. “It could work, although I can’t believe I’m really considering it.” He stopped outside Soujirou’s room and faced Signal seriously. “All right, I guess I don’t have much choice. But this doesn’t give you bragging rights to everyone that you and I are a couple, got it?! It’s only a temporary lie to get Kenshin off my back.”

“Pfft.” Signal tossed his ultra-long blue hair. “You make it sound like _I’m_ the needy one here. I’m just doing you a favour, you could show some gratitude.”

“Yeah, right,” Kamatari said dryly. “Just remember what I said.”

Soujirou opened the door and smiled. “Kama-chan, did you knock?”

“Not yet, I was about to.” Kamatari gave Signal a significant look. “And Signal was just leaving.”

The robot pinched Kamatari’s cheek. “Anything you say, Snookums!” He darted away down the hall giggling when Kamatari lunged for him.

“’Snookums’?” Soujirou repeated curiously.

Kamatari sighed heavily. It was going to be a long day.

\--

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoisite agrees to take martial arts lessons from Kyo.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 9

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Kurama nodded toward the classroom door. “Here’s the room,” he said to Kurapika, and hoped that Kirua was doing all right in his own class. Despite his feigned indifference, he had hesitated when the time to separate from his brother came. Kurama wished he could shake his future self for not explaining the situation thoroughly in the note.

Hiei took Kurapika to their seats while Kurama stopped to explain things to the teacher. After sitting down, Hiei looked at Kurapika to ask him something only to have his words vanish before he could give voice to them. He stared at the boy’s face suspiciously instead.

“When did your eyes turn black?” he demanded. “They were green yesterday!”

“Ssh,” Kurapika hushed him, glancing around uneasily.

“Don’t ‘ssh’ me, I’m your father!” Hiei exclaimed, causing everyone in the classroom to fall silent and stare at them, including Kurama and the teacher.

Kurapika facepalmed. He was off to a great start.

“Ahem,” the teacher cleared his throat and stood up. “It looks like this is our day for new students. So far today we have,” he indicated each of them as he read off their names, “Soujirou, Zoisite, Kurapika, Feitan and Machi. Please make them all feel welcome and give them any help you can.”

Kurama and Hiei studied the other new students, recognizing Zoisite and Soujirou from the previous day, but not knowing the other two who sat in the back row. Machi was a beautiful girl with long fluffy pink hair tied back from her face. Feitan was smaller, much like Hiei. His shoulder-length straight hair was such a dark blue it was almost black. Both kids had serious gold eyes. They nodded to acknowledge the greetings their new classmates gave them.

“All right, class,” the teacher said. “Let’s go over yesterday’s homework. For you new students, just bear with us and we’ll start a new lesson shortly.”

\--

Zoisite looked up from his lunch and blinked at Kyo in surprise. “You want to teach me martial arts? Why?”

Kyo drank a few swallows of milk before answering, “Because you need to learn it. If you knew some moves, you probably wouldn’t have gotten nailed by Signal in the food court.”

“I do know _some_ moves,” Zoisite retorted. “Kunzite-sama taught me.”

Kyo gave him a skeptical look. “Your reflexes suck, Zoisite. What did he teach you – how to be a target?”

“No!” Zoisite snapped, then paused thoughtfully and finally giggled. “Well, the truth is, he pretty much sees me as a lost cause where physical self-defense is concerned. That’s why it’s a good thing I’m very talented at magic.” He sighed. “Nephrite laughed at me when he watched my last lesson.”

“I don’t believe you’re incapable of learning _any_ of it,” Kyo said firmly. “We’ll start lessons after school.”

Zoisite hesitated. “I don’t know ….”

“Come on,” Kyo urged. “What’s the worst that can happen? You’ll learn something, impress Kunzite, and stick it to Nephrite. Best of all, you’ll have a way to protect yourself should your magic fail you.”

Worried green eyes looked up from under long lashes. “You really think there’s a chance I can learn? Kunzite-sama has tried over and over, and even Jadeite made attempts at it ….”

“They’re different, they’ve known you forever. Maybe they go easy on you.” Kyo grinned evilly. “I won’t.”

“Oh, _goodie_!” Zoisite laughed, rolling his eyes. “You think that if I can’t learn when people are taking it easy on me that the best idea is to make it harder?”

Kyo shrugged and grinned. “Can’t hurt to try, right?”

“It can hurt a LOT!” Zoisite exclaimed. “You could kick my ass and I won’t learn a thing!”

“If nothing else, I’ll teach you to kick back, okay?” Kyo held out his hand.

Zoisite grasped and shook it. “Deal.”

\--

Across the cafeteria, another handshake was taking place.

“It’s nice to meet you, Pulse,” Jadeite greeted.

“Thank you,” the black-haired robot replied. “It’s good to see some new faces around here.” His red eyes scanned the room. “Although strangely enough, there seem to be more children and not so many guardians. Who’s looking after these kids?”

“Well, in our case, there are three of us to keep tabs on Zoisite, and sometimes that doesn’t seem to be enough.” Jadeite paused as he caught sight of something interesting. “Who’s the beautiful girl coming this way in the furisode?”

Pulse glanced over. “That’s Ritsu. He’s male, but rather timid. He feels safer hiding behind women’s’ clothing.”

Jadeite watched Ritsu approach, noting the shy way he ducked his head. What on Earth did this lovely creature have to be so afraid of?

“Hello Ritsu,” Pulse said. “This is Jadeite, he’s a new college student. Sit with us.”

Jadeite couldn’t help thinking that it sounded more like an order than an invitation, but Ritsu did what Pulse said.

“Thank you,” he answered softly, giving Jadeite a shy smile. “I’m Souma Ritsu.” He bowed. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same here,” Jadeite told him, thinking how Ritsu was even prettier close up. His hair was close to the same butterscotch colour as Zoisite’s, but straight, and with the sides tied back with a red ribbon. It was very feminine, and suited his features well. However, Jadeite suspected it would be difficult to make this beauty look bad.

“Jadeite and his friends just arrived yesterday,” Pulse explained. “Signal said he and Kyo had already met Zoisite – the only high school-aged child with them.”

Ritsu smiled brightly at Jadeite. “Oh, Zoisite is with you! I met him yesterday, too, when Kamatari brought him over.”

“I’m glad Zoi’s already making friends,” Jadeite said. “I was worried about him.”

“He seemed nice to me,” Ritsu remarked, then glanced at Jadeite, blushing slightly. “I was in a couple of your classes this morning.”

“You were?” Jadeite was surprised. He was sure he’d have remembered seeing Ritsu before.

“Ritsu sits in the back,” Pulse told him while the young man in the ribbon coloured an even deeper red.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why be sorry?” Jadeite smiled reassuringly. “I’m the one who should apologize for not seeing you.”

Ritsu looked horrified. “Oh _no_, you shouldn’t! It’s entirely my fault! I—“

“There’s Nuriko,” Pulse interrupted abruptly, nodding. “Is that your friend, the one you mentioned before?”

It certainly was. Jadeite watched in a mixture of fascination and amusement as the second King of the Shitennou doggedly tried to keep up with the beautiful purple-haired Nuriko. Nephrite carried a load of books in one arm, and a loaded tray of food in his free hand.

“Hello, gentlemen!” Nuriko said brightly, pausing by a vacant chair and looking from it to Nephrite and back again meaningfully. The auburn-haired man realized what he wanted and gave him an incredulous stare before attempting to set the tray down. He succeeded, but dropped most of the books in the process.

“Tsk!” Nuriko put his hands on his hips and shook his head.

“Good help is hard to find, isn’t it, Nuriko?” Jadeite asked mischievously.

Nephrite shot him a glare. “YOU shut up!” He finished gathering the books and set them down. Nuriko cleared his throat and Nephrite ground his teeth, remembering the chair. He pulled it out, resisting the urge to yank it right out from under Nuriko as he seated himself.

“That’s better, slave,” Nuriko said sweetly and grinned at the others. “He’s slow, but he learns.”

Jadeite snickered and Nephrite gave him another death-glare. Jadeite diffused it by introducing Pulse and Ritsu.

“Nice meeting you,” Nephrite said, eyeing Ritsu with mild interest. “I’m sorry, I’m not at my best today, but I find myself in a difficult situation.”

“Of your own making,” Nuriko pointed out, wagging a finger. “Don’t bet with your betters.”

Jadeite laughed while Nephrite sputtered. Ritsu was trying to hide a smile when his expression changed to one of uneasiness. “Oh, there’s a new girl in Kyo-san’s grade level.”

They all followed his gaze toward the new, serious-looking pair.

“Is the boy the same age?” Pulse speculated. “He’s rather diminutive.”

“He’s too small, throw him back,” Nephrite stated.

“Well, aren’t you charitable!” Nuriko declared. “The boy can’t help his height, you know.” He shrugged. “Besides, at least he’s likely to grow more.” He smirked. “Rather like your ego.”

“Look who’s talking!” Nephrite exclaimed.

“Now, now,” Nuriko scolded. “Slaves shouldn’t yell at their masters. Eat your lunch like a good boy before I decide you don’t deserve any.”

Jadeite suppressed a laugh and noticed that Ritsu was still watching the new girl with a fearful expression. “Is something wrong?” he asked in concern. “Do you know her?”

Ritsu turned to him startled. “Oh! No, I don’t know her. It’s just that there are so few girls here that it’s unusual when one shows up.” He gave Jadeite an apologetic smile. “It’s one of the reasons we came here – not too many girls.”

“You don’t like being around girls?” Nephrite asked, sounding confused. Between Ritsu and Nuriko, he wondered if they just were afraid of competition in the beauty department.

“The Souma curse,” Nuriko said. “The opposite gender can trigger it, and Ritsu, Kyo, and Shigure have to be careful to avoid them when they can.”

“Oh, right, Zoisite mentioned something about his friend Kamatari ‘testing’ his gender by throwing him into Kyo yesterday,” Jadeite said. “That goes for you, too?”

“Yes,” Ritsu admitted. “Only I’m cursed by one of the other Zodiac animals.”

Jadeite didn’t think it would be polite to probe further, so he didn’t, and since Nuriko chose that time to tell an annoyed Nephrite to go get him a dessert, the conversation ended in an argument. He looked back over at the new girl and noticed that she and her companion were both watching Hiei and Kurama’s table. There was an intensity to their gaze that reminded him of the Dark Kingdom’s ruler, Queen Beryl, when she wanted something. And it was only a matter of time before she got it.

\--

End of Part 9

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feitan and Machi consider their next move, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles share breakfast, and Zoisite keeps a secret.

Hotel Gakuen

Part 10

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

Feitan followed Machi into their room and shut the door, dropping his books where he stood. “It’s at a time like this when I wish I could let go with one of Ubo’s sonic screams,” he commented.

“Frustrated, are you?” Machi deposited her own books on the coffee table and turned toward him. “Not that I blame you. This entire day was an exercise in slow torture.”

“And not the kind I enjoy inflicting on others,” Feitan said flatly, crossing the room to sit on the couch. “If we stay too long, they’ll start expecting us to do real work in those classes. I’d like to be gone before that.”

“So would I, but you know we have to be sure before we can complete the mission.” Machi gave him an upraised eyebrow. “Do you really want to face Daichou if we bring down the wrath of two demons of Makai upon us for NO good reason?”

“Not much,” he admitted, peering at her from over the top of the scarf that hid half his face. “So how are we going to create the situation necessary to get that proof? They haven’t left him alone for a minute all day.”

“They’ll let their guard down sooner or later. At least they don’t know who _we_ are, so we have that advantage.”

“Yes, but we might also look suspicious because we’re new here and let’s face it; neither of us knows how to act like normal high school students. And why should we?” Feitan shrugged. “We’re members of the Genei Ryodan. We’re highly-skilled thieves and murderers – why should anything about us appear normal?”

“I know, but if we want to get the treasures that kid possesses we’ll have to do whatever is necessary to make them think we are.”

“Such as?” Feitan asked.

“How the hell should I know?” Machi dropped onto the couch beside him and they both fell into a brooding, thoughtful silence.

\--

"Hey, Mikey, this actually looks pretty good," Leonardo remarked, staring at the plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Leo, I'm hurt, dude," Michelangelo replied, pouring orange juice for his brother. "I make breakfast all the time!"

"Yeah, and sometimes you slip 'surprises' in there."

"Remember the time he put chocolate chips in the eggs?" Donatello piped up. "They melted, of course, and the eggs didn't cook properly –"

"Even Mikey's experiments are better than the algae and worms we ate in the sewers," Raphael pointed out, shoveling some of the eggs into his mouth. "Mmm," he gave a thumb's-up. "S'okay, these are safe."

"Are you all ready for school today, my sons?" asked their father, Splinter as he regarded his four turtle sons fondly.

"Naturally," Donnie answered.

"Sure," Leo said.

"As I ever am," replied Raph.

Mikey's silence was all the more obvious by the way everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Michelangelo?" Splinter prompted.

"I didn't finish my homework, Sensei," Mikey admitted, not looking up from the frying pan. "Nosedive and I got some new comics and we kind of lost track of time –"

"I see," Splinter stroked his long, thin length of beard. The mutant rat gazed at his sons seriously. "School is a priviledge. When we lived in the underbelly of New York, down in the sewers, the only education you could have was that which I gave you –"

"And the tv," Leonardo added.

"And the internet," Donatello chimed in. "I've been able to do some great research using –"

"Be that as it may!" Splinter said sharply. "You were unable to attend school like other children. Now that you can, I would hope that you would take full advantage of it. If you choose not to do your homework –" he eyed Michelangelo, "that will be to your detriment, in more ways than one."

"Especially if the homework was for math class." Raphael snickered. "I wouldn't want that teacher to catch me without MY homework done!"

"Can I copy yours, Donnie?" Mikey asked hopefully.

"No!" his brother and Splinter both replied emphatically.

Mikey sighed, then smiled, his inate cheerfulness not allowing him to stay down for long. "Maybe I'll have time to do it before class starts."

"If there's a chance before we leave, I'll help you with it," Donnie promised him.

"I understand we have had new people move in recently," Splinter mentioned, changing the subject. "Have any of you met them?"

"No, but I saw one of the new girls – the one with the butterscotch hair -- in the hall, with Kamatari and Kyo," Raph said.

"That was a boy," Donnie replied, finishing his juice.

"What? No way!"

"Seriously, have you MET Nuriko and Kamatari? Trust me, this one is a boy, too."

"What about the one with the blonde hair?" Leonardo inquired. "The one with the tunic, with the smaller blonde boy hanging around?"

"Also a boy," Donnie stated with confidence.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Now the pink-haired one I KNOW is a girl because she has a shape."

"She didn't look very friendly," Leo remarked. "She or the shorter black-haired guy she was with."

"Maybe they were nervous?" Mikey suggested. "Don't some people get scared starting a new school?"

His brothers exchanged a glance, remembering when they first started at Hotel Gakuen. They had tried not to be nervous, but as acceptance for mutants was still been a new thing then, there _had_ been a little uneasiness on their part.

Except for Mikey. He had been excited to start school, and went around introducing himself to everyone without fear or hesitation. By the end of the first day, all the kids and teachers knew the teenage mutant ninja turtles thanks to Mikey's social skills.

"If anyone can make someone new feel welcome, it'll be you, Mikey." Donnie smiled.

"Okay!" His brother beamed. "I'll look for them and make friends with them!"

"Good, Michelangelo," Splinter said. "But first, finish your homework."

"Hai, Sensei."

\--

Zoisite smirked as he watched Nephrite gulp coffee and wolf down a muffin. "You seem to be in a hurry? The call of your master's voice?"

"Or mistress'," Jadeite added mischieviously. "It will depend on Nuriko's mood."

Kunzite raised an eyebrow while Nephrite scowled at the younger Shitennou member. "And just how long are you going to let this go on?"

"Not long," Nephrite said grimly. "I didn't agree to spend the rest of my life as a slave."

"Wasn't it just yesterday when you told us you weren't going to do it for more than one day?" Jadeite chuckled.

Nephrite frowned in a way that was almost a pout. "When I implied as much to Nuriko, he suggested I was a welcher. When I asked him how long he'd intended for me to do this, he thought about it for a second, then said that a week seemed fair."

"Don't worry, Zoisite waved a hand, "the more time you spend with him, the more Nuriko will realize he doesn't want you around."

"Mind your own business!" Nephrite snapped before going out the door.

"By the way, Kunzite-sama," Zoisite turned to him. "I'm going to be late coming back after school. I have plans with a friend."

"Ooo." Jadeite grinned. "Better watch out, Kunzite! Sounds like he's getting ready to replace you!"

"Shut up!" Zoisite retorted.

"Not funny, Jadeite." Kunzite calmly sipped his coffee. "I have complete faith in Zoisite."

"Thank you, Kunzite-sama." Zoisite stuck his tongue out at Jadeite. "Anyway, it's nothing suspicious."

"Then why don't you tell us what it is?" Jadeite asked.

Zoisite paused. He didn't want to mention that he was taking martial arts lessons from Kyo just yet. Kunzite might be insulted – like he didn't think the training he'd gotten from him had been good enough. He wanted to be able to show some results first. Besides, Jadeite might make fun of him, or worse, tell Nephrite. "It's a secret," he said finally. "A surprise."

"I'm not sure if one of your surprises would be safe," Jadeite joked.

"You'll have to wait and see." Zoisite cast an uncertain look toward Kunzite. "It's okay, isn't it?"

The High King pondered the situation for a few moments, then nodded. "Yes. I think I would be interested in seeing this surprise of yours, Little One." He took Zoisite's hand and brought it to his lips. "Have fun, but be careful."

"Well, one of those things is guaranteed," Jadeite chuckled.

\--

End of Part 10

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michelangelo gets advice from Nosedive, Raphael agrees to help Zoisite train, and Kamatari learns the pitfalls of accepting Signal's help.

Hotel Gakuen (Crossover)

Part 11

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

\--

"Hey, Mikey!" Nosedive Flashblade waved at his best friend as he entered the classroom. Michelangelo grinned at the alien duck and jumped into the desk next to him.

"Dive, dude, did you do your homework after we split up last night?"

"Are you kidding? Think about it, man!" Nosedive rolled his eyes. "I've got like, five older ducks living with me. When it's discovered I don't have my homework done, from Wildwing I get head-shaking and disappointed looks, from Grin I get 'bad karma' grumbling, Mallory threatens my life, Tanya blathers on about how easy it is, and Duke gives me the 'you don't wanna end up like me, kid' speech." He tossed his long hair and winked. "Makes doing homework a necessity if I want to avoid all that, y'know?"

"Yeah, I see your point." Anytime Mikey felt overwhelmed by his father and three older brothers, thinking about his hockey-playing friend and his household of adults made him feel lucky. "Donnie went over the homework with me quickly before we left, but I'm still not sure I got it."

"Give it here, man, I'll look at it!"

\--

Donatello was concerned as he watched Michelangelo and Nosedive. "Is Mikey getting homework help from NOSEDIVE?! Seriously?"

"You wouldn't give him the answers, maybe Dive will," Raphael said.

"He'd be better off guessing at the answers," Donnie grumbled.

"Hey, Raph!" greeted Kyo as he sat down beside him. "Have you met Zoisite?" He indicated the slim, pretty figure on his other side.

"Hi." Zoisite waved. "I'm new here."

"Nice to meetcha," Raph replied. "Those are my brothers – Leonardo, Donatello, and that's Michelangelo over by the blonde duck."

"That's Nosedive," Kyo informed Zoisite. "He and Mikey are a lot alike."

"Right now they're too much alike," Donnie commented worriedly, watching them.

"Relax, Donnie, I think he's just getting his opinion on the homework, not taking answers from him." Leo patted his brother's arm, then frowned. "At least, he'd better not be."

"You've got interesting friends," Zoisite told Kyo. "Here I thought the robot would be the weirdest one, but giant turtles? And ducks?"

"The turtles are mutants. Ninjas, too. They can almost beat me in combat."

"Almost?" Raphael laughed.

"Okay, we'll call it even," Kyo retorted, but he was smiling, as he did most times he talked about martial arts. "I'm going to be teaching Zoisite some moves – want to help me?"

"Maybe." Raph folded his arms and studied Zoisite critically. "He's kinda puny and girly."

Zoisite's eyes glinted and he formed a pointed, green ice crystal in his hand. "I have my own resources."

Leo held up his hands in surrender. "Easy does it, we don't want any trouble."

Raph's skeptical expression had changed to a grin. "I like him. Sure, I'll help Kyo give you some pointers. Why do you want to learn, though?"

Zoisite dissipated the crystal. "I'm one of the Shitennou – the youngest and smallest. In a magic battle, I can fight like nobody's business, but in hand-to-hand combat, not so much."

"There really isn't any reason to fight in this place," Donnie pointed out.

Raphael nudged him. "None of us will be here forever, so what's wrong with improving his skills for the outside? It's not like we're taking a vacation from OUR daily training."

"I want to stop Nephrite and Jadeite from making fun of my fighting skills," Zoisite admitted, lifting his chin defiantly. "I want to impress Kunzite-sama."

"What about impressing yourself?"

Green eyes met green eyes as he stared at Raphael. "Especially that."

\--

Kamatari smiled at Soujirou as they headed for the cafeteria. "So it's been a couple of days – how are you finding school?"

"I like it. It gives me something to do, and the other kids are entertaining." He gave him a curious look. "I'll admit, I'm surprised you've been able to handle it so well, though. I wouldn't have thought you'd have the patience."

"Are you kidding?" his boyfriend snorted. "That's why I got into trouble with Hiko – for smartmouthing my teacher." He sighed. "I have to be careful about that. Hiko means business and Kenshin can't protect me all the time."

"I can." Soujirou slipped an arm around him, but it was suddenly lifted off again by a hand that came out of nowhere.

"Shouldn't you guys be more careful in public? Weren't you going to hide this relationship?"

Soujirou regarded Signal slowly, still smiling as he always did, but Kamatari felt a distinct rise in tension.

"Easy, Sou-chan. Signal offered to help us throw Hiko and Kenshin off-track, and he has a point – they could be going to the cafeteria like we are."

Soujirou's smile never wavered, but Kamatari sensed him relaxing. "That's true. Thank you for watching out for us, Signal."

"I told Kamatari that I would pretend to be his boyfriend," Signal said proudly.

Instantly, the tension was back. "THAT is his great idea to cover for us?" Soujirou asked Kamatari in disbelief.

"Not really," he confessed, "but what else can I do? Kenshin knows I've been kissing someone, and if he figures out it's you –"

He was interrupted as Signal grabbed him and kissed him hard.

“MMMPH!” the pretty redhead struggled and managed to grab a fistful of Signal’s hair, yanking his head backwards.

“Yeow!” he cried. “Hey, that hurts! I saw Kenshin go by, that’s why I did it!”

“Liar!” Kamatari accused. “Kenshin wouldn’t just pass by if he saw me making out in the hallway, he’d SAY something!”

“He didn’t see, he was talking to Splinter! Honest! I just wasn't taking chances!"

Kamatari abruptly spun toward Soujirou. "I'm so sorry! I didn't tell him to do THAT, I –"

Soujirou embraced him. "Relax, it's okay. He was telling the truth; I saw Kenshin as well." He paused, an odd expression on his face. "With a giant rat."

"Yeah, that's Splinter." Kamatari breathed easier, then cast Signal a warning look. "Don't ever do that again or I'll rip you in half."

"And if that isn't enough, you'll have to deal with me." Soujirou smiled sweetly at the robot. Somehow, the smile unnerved Signal more than Kamatari's threat did.

\--

"Okay, you two," Kurama said to Kurapika and Kirua as they ate lunch in the cafeteria, "Hiei and I have been trying to get the answer out of you since you arrived, but you've been side-stepping us. We need for you to tell us the real story about why you're here."

"We did tell you," Kurapika replied, keeping his gaze focused on his food.

"You told us nothing!" Hiei snapped. "The letter said you're in danger; who is threatening you?"

Kirua glanced up from the chocolate pudding he'd insisted on having for lunch. "Right now it feels sorta like YOU are, getting in our faces like this."

"Oh no, you're not putting this on us or avoiding the question anymore," Kurama stated firmly, in what he hoped was his best 'Mother's word is law' tone. "Who is after Kurapika?"

That made their future children stop and look at each other. "We never said anyone was after me specifically," Kurapika answered carefully.

"I figured it out." Kurama's eyes were serious. "We can't be fully prepared to protect you if we don't know what we're up against."

"And why is it that our future selves are allowed to know but we aren't?" Hiei muttered.

"I don't think they're gonna let this go, Kurapika," Kirua gave his spoon a lick. "We should tell them so they'll stop bugging us."

"Easy for you to say," Kurapika growled, then heaved a heavy sigh. "Fine, we'll tell you, but not here."

"Guess we're skipping afternoon classes," Hiei said, sounding almost cheerful.

"No," Kurama corrected him. "The boys just started classes, we shouldn't interrupt that already. Right after school, we'll talk."

\--

"We can't wait much longer to make a move," Machi commented, taking a bite from a sandwich and making a face at it.

Feitan glared over at Hiei and Kurama's table. "I know. They've been keeping to their room any time they aren't in class, so there haven't been any opportunities."

"And we can't go into their room with those two demons there," Machi muttered. "They have to leave them alone sooner or later or they'll go crazy, right?"

"Waiting for it to happen may drive us crazy first." Feitan finished his own sandwich.

"So what about the idea you had? We can't set it in motion if we never get close enough or get them alone."

"Hi there!" Michelangelo dropped himself into a chair between them.

Both of them sat up straight, stunned that this giant turtle had managed to come up to them without their having heard or felt his presence. Were they losing their touch? And why the hell was he here, anyway?!

"What do you want?" Feitan asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"You guys are new, right?" Mikey said, oblivious to their murderous expressions. "I thought you could use a headstart in making friends here – I'll be your first!" He threw an arm around both their shoulders and pulled them close to him. "It's gonna be great!"

\--

End of Part 11

(2004)

None of these characters are mine.

This fic is not to be re-posted.


End file.
